The music did before played into the comforts of cis, heterosexual listerners.” To Owens, many listeners appear to be thinking: “He can be an artist that’s gay, but his content doesn’t have to be.” And oftentimes favorites mean people who are not queer. “Bullshit,” Ernest Owens, journalist and author of The Case for Cancel Culture, said in response to BET’s statement. We are committed to using all of our platforms to provide visibility and inclusion for all of the many intersections of the Black community.” At BET, we are passionate advocates for the wonderful diversity that exists within our community. “No one from BET serves as a member of the Voting Academy. “Unfortunately, this year, was not nominated by BET’s Voting Academy, which is comprised of an esteemed group of nearly 500 entertainment professionals in the fields of music, television, film, digital marketing, sports journalism, public relations, influencers, and creative arts,” the organization wrote. There’s enough room in this world for everybody.”īET eventually released a statement directly in response to Lil Nas X’s attacks. Queen Latifah voiced her support for Lil Nas X, telling a TMZ reporter, “He should’ve been nominated … I don’t know what’s behind all that, but inclusion is always the key. He shared how he found it hard to square a white rapper receiving more nominations from a Black entertainment platform than a queer Black rapper with equal, if not more, success: “Funny thing is industry baby was the biggest song me & jack released last year in the eligibility period but only one of us got a nomination,” Lil Nas X wrote. The rapper’s tweets deconstruct hierarchies of privilege. Jack Harlow and Lil Nas X perform at Citi Field in New York last year.
This week Lil Nas X put himself at the center of another enduring social quandary: when will hip-hop and Black institutions finally celebrate queer Black artists? Both Old Town Road and Call Me By Your Name reached No 1 in the US and UK amid, or even because of, all the drama surrounding them. Who gets to make country music? Is a queer pop star “inappropriate” for children? Lil Nas X regularly shoots out viral jokes and memes throughout the scuffles, taking control of the narrative with the PR acuity of a Kardashian and the irreverence of a Very Online Gen-Zer. Following the breakout success of his self-released track Old Town Road, he has masterfully harnessed Fox News segments, Twitter spats, and a cease-and-desist order from a multibillion-dollar shoe company as fuel for a Grammy-winning career.īehind each quarrel, there are frequently questions about identity and representation. He argued that other Black queer rappers, such as Frank Ocean and Tyler, the Creator, were “more respected when they do less feminine things”.įrom the start of his career, Lil Nas X has been well acquainted with controversy and pushback. Lil Nas X then emphasized the limitations around self-expression often imposed on queer artists, especially if they want to be taken seriously within hip-hop.